Choral Evensong

Chester Cathedral is hosting Choral Evensong on Sunday 8 November, with the Chester Cathedral Choir leading the service. It's a service of psalms, canticles, hymns and prayers, and the choir sings the canticles and hymns throughout. Evensong follows the same pattern of worship as the Benedictine predecessors of St Werburgh's Abbey, built around the Liturgy of the Word interwoven with canticles of praise and intercessory prayer.

That Benedictine connection runs deep here. The cathedral's choral foundation traces back to the monks of the monastery, who were singing their chants more than 900 years ago. Henry VIII re-established the house as a cathedral in July 1541, and the current building dates from 1868. The choir sings eight services each week and gives at least four concerts a year, while the Cathedral Nave Choir, founded by Dean John Saul Howson on Advent Sunday 1867, is the longest-running voluntary choir in the country.

There's a bit of history in the organ too. It's often thought to be by Hill, but it was essentially a new instrument by Charles Whiteley and Company in 1875/6, rebuilt by Hill and Son in 1909/10 and again by Rushworth and Dreaper in 1969/70. The cathedral also has a carbon neutral target for 2030 and stopped printing single-use documents in 2019.

On Sundays, Evensong runs from 15:00 to 16:00. If you're looking for other times, the cathedral holds services Monday to Friday at 17:30 — though it's Said Evening Prayer on Wednesdays and during school holidays — and Saturdays at 16:15. This one is on Sunday 8 November, 15:00 to 16:00, at Chester Cathedral.